The Glorious Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet are the Basic fundamentals of the Islamic Civilization

Sunday, 08 August 2010

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Written by Dr. Ragheb Elsergany

Sources of Islamic Civilization

 The advent of Islam formed the minaret that was lit to remove the darkness of a long night that overcame the bleak world at the moment. This was a new start for a new world; it is the world of the Islamic Civilization that began at the very day when the Islam began to light the life, change thinking, political, legislative, social, and economic features all over the world. This civilization grew in the shadow of Islam as a religion and a state, history and rise, development and culture.

This civilization was derived from some distinguished sources depending on unique foundations and fed with rich resources that played significant and specific roles in the rise, distinction, and values of the Islamic Civilization giving it an essential, specialty, difference, and superiority over the former civilization of the world. Gustav Lobone testified to this fact when he stated that Arabs grew a new civilization that was of great differences from the former civilization.

First Source: The Glorious Qur'an

The Glorious Qur'an and the Purified Sunnah are absolutely the most important fundamentals of the Islamic Civilization. They are the two essential sources of the Islamic civilization.

As for the first source, it is the Glorious Book of Allah revealed[1] to our master Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Describing the Qur'an, Allah says, "(This is) a Book, with verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning), further explained in detail,- from One Who is Wise and Well-acquainted (with all things)." [Hud 11: 1]. It is a book with parables bearing lessons for those who reflect upon them and commands for guiding those who comprehend them where Allah demonstrated the religious duties and differentiated between the lawful and the forbidden, repeating admonitions and stories for better understanding, and giving lessons and accounts of the unseen. Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) says: "Nothing have we omitted from the Book." [Al-An`am 6: 38][2]

The Glorious Qur'an is the constitution of the Muslim society that covers all their affairs, little or great, gifting humanity all means of goodness and happiness. Allah's legislation is decisive and general to be effectively applicable, regardless of times and places.[3]

Allah revealed the Qur'an to set right life and humanity with its guidance, for it has the secret and greatness of the Islamic civilization. It is the Book of Allah that "does guide to that which is most right (or stable)." [Al-Isra' 17: 9]. In other words, the Qur'an guides people to the best and optimal way of life. It is the book that "No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it: It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise." [Fussilat 41: 42]. It has all goodness for humanity in all spiritual, intellectual, social, scientific, mental, economic, cultural, and military aspects and its teaching bears the seeds of human happiness and salvation.

The Glorious Qur'an contains general rules and various rulings that organize human relationships with oneself, with Allah, and with each other. It preaches the creed of Divine Unity and defends the values of freedom, human fraternity, and equality. It also arranges all transactions and the system of society on sound foundations guaranteeing security, prosperity, happiness and salvation.

Second Source: The Sunnah of the Prophet

Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) entrusted his Prophet (peace be upon him) with defining the indefinite and qualifying the inexplicit, and determining the ambiguous to have special role and authoritative position beyond the conveyance of the Message. Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) says: "We have sent down unto thee (also) the Message; that you may explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought." [Al-Nahl 16: 44] The Book then becomes the text and the Sunnah forms the expository interpretation.[4]

Here, the second foundation and source of the Islamic civilization appears; it is the Honorable Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that comes next only to the Glorious Qur'an. The Qur'an represents the constitution that has the basic legal foundations and religious rules of creed, worship, ethics, transactions, and morals of Islam. The Sunnah, on the other hand, forms the application of all these elements. It is the Prophetic detailed course of teaching and application of Islam along with bringing up the Muslims accordingly. This fact is echoed in the following verse where Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) says: "Allah did confer a great favor on the believers when He sent among them an apostle from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error." [Al-`Imran 3: 164]. It also finds further explanation in the statement, deeds, and tacit approvals of the Prophet (peace be upon him).[5]

Addressing the Believers, Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) says: "So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you." [Al-Hashr 59: 7]

The Sunnah explains and completes the Qur'an. It is reported from `Imran ibn Al-Husayn that they once were studying the Hadith when a man said, "Let that, i.e. the Hadith, and bring the Book of Allah." Thereupon, `Imran ibn Al-Husayn said: "You are a stupid; do you find the detailed manner of Salah (Prayer) in the Qur'an? Do you find the meaning of Sawm (Fast) in the Qur'an? The Qur'an just gives definite commandments while the Sunnah explains all them."[6]   

These two sources stemmed from the Revelation found an ideal society that humanity has never seen the like – as will be shown in one of the chapters of this book. “When examining the situation of the Arabs before and after Islam and comparing the two cases simply and easily, we will discover that the religion revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) and conveyed to the Arabs was the only new matter that came to them and amended their ethics, disciplined their lives, united them, reformed their society, raised their status, and granted them prestigious power. They thus became an educated nation after their ignorance; a rightly-guided community after deviation; and a remarkably outstanding people after primitiveness.”[7]    

The Glorious Qur'an and the Purified Sunnah are then the two fundamental sources that formed the Civilization of Islam through the teachings they enacted in the fields of science, creed, policy, sociology, economy, education, ethics, women's rights, international relations, and other aspects in the Islamic civilization that came to bring about happiness to humanity.

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